How Mastercard’s Chief Learning Officer Is Scaling Leadership Development - 2026 Next Practices Weekly
Next Practices Weekly welcomed Emily Lin, Chief Learning Officer at Mastercard, for a compelling discussion on how organizations can elevate leadership development from a collection of learning programs into an enterprise-wide capability that drives business strategy. Drawing on her experience leading learning and capability at one of the world's most innovative organizations, Lin shared how Mastercard aligns leadership development with business priorities, builds learning into the flow of work, and equips leaders to navigate continuous transformation.
Hosted by Kevin Wilde and Tom Stone, the conversation explored how learning leaders can create measurable business impact by focusing on performance, skills, AI fluency, and enterprise-wide leadership capability. Lin emphasized that effective leadership development begins by solving business problems, not simply delivering training, and requires a culture that balances high performance with deep care for employees.
Key Topics Discussed
- Building Leadership Development as a Business Capability
Rather than treating leadership development as a standalone portfolio of programs, Lin encouraged organizations to position learning as a strategic business capability. Every leadership initiative should directly support enterprise priorities, strengthen organizational capability, and enable long-term business growth. - Connecting Learning Directly to Business Performance
Lin shared her performance-based philosophy for learning, encouraging HR and learning leaders to first identify the business challenge, determine workforce capability gaps, and then design learning solutions that deliver measurable organizational outcomes. - Scaling AI Fluency Across the Enterprise
Mastercard is moving beyond AI literacy toward enterprise-wide AI fluency. Lin discussed how organizations should enable employees, people leaders, and executives to safely integrate AI into everyday workflows, embedding learning directly into the flow of work to accelerate adoption and impact. - Creating an Enterprise-Wide Leadership Mindset
Leadership development at scale requires leaders to think beyond functional silos. Lin emphasized cultivating an enterprise-wide perspective that enables stronger collaboration, better decision-making, and greater alignment with organizational strategy. - Building a High-Ambition, High-Care Culture
One of Mastercard's distinguishing characteristics is its commitment to pairing ambitious business goals with genuine care for employees. Lin highlighted how leadership development should reinforce both accountability and empathy, helping leaders create environments where people can thrive while delivering exceptional business results.
Emily's practical insights offered a valuable roadmap for learning and HR leaders looking to modernize leadership development in an era of constant change. From connecting learning investments to business outcomes to preparing leaders for an AI-enabled future, the discussion was filled with actionable strategies that organizations of any size can begin applying today. If you missed the live session - or want to revisit the conversation - be sure to watch the recording to hear firsthand how Mastercard is scaling leadership development to drive enterprise performance, strengthen leadership pipelines, and prepare leaders for what's next.
Resources Shared
- Designed for Disruption – Download the Report: Future-ready organizations don’t just adapt - they’re built for disruption. Explore the agility routines driving performance in this latest research from Institute for Corporate Productivity. Access the Designed for Disruption report.
To ensure open discussion, this event was exclusively for HR practitioners. Vendors and consultants were not permitted to attend.
